Payback
"Payback" is the nineteenth episode of Miami Vice's second season. The episode premiered on March 14, 1986 and repeated on August 22, 1986. Summary Crockett is accused of having money belonging to a drug dealer. Plot Crockett makes a 70 mile drive to state prison at the request of Jesus Maroto (Roberto Duran), whom Crockett put away. After being praised as a "tough cop," Crockett asks Maroto why he called for this meeting. Maroto says "Payback!" and spontaneously kisses Crockett before pulling a zip gun. He points it at Crockett, saying they're going to find out how tough he really is, then suddenly puts it to his head and commits suicide. A mystery woman leaves a message at Metro-Dade headquarters for Crockett, and then calls all the Crocketts in the phone directory. Crockett and Tubbs are on their way to see Reuben Reydolfo (Dan Hedaya), Mario Fuente's right hand man, regarding a major drug deal. Fuente does all his deals on his boat, anchored out to sea, so that at the first sign of trouble he can dump his stash. Reydolfo refuses to let them see Fuente. Castillo introduces Crockett and Tubbs to DEA agent Earle Hodges and South Beach Vice cop Kevin Cates (Graham Beckel), who are also investigating Fuente. Hodges and Castillo want Cates to join up with Crockett and Tubbs to get past Rodolfo and see Fuente, and at a bar Cates discloses his plans to do so. Crockett picks up a woman in the bar and takes her to the St. Vitus Dance. When he gets there, his boat has been ransacked, music is blaring, and scrawled on his chart are the words "Where's the Money, Crockett?" The next morning Crockett begins to get anonymous calls on the boat saying "Share the wealth, Crockett". Tubbs stops by later and Crockett fills him in, concerned about someone knowing his real name, as everyone around the marina knows him only as Sonny Burnett. Cates calls Crockett about a meet with Reydolfo. Tubbs is concerned about Crockett's state of mind after Moroto's suicide. At a restaurant, Cates sets up the meet with Fuente. Back at OCB, Castillo tells Crockett Internal Affairs wants to see him. Crockett doesn't know of any reason for it, and when he goes up to the meeting he finds himself taking part in an underhanded ploy set up to test his guilt. He storms out, refusing to "play this game". Crockett and Tubbs finalize their plans to meet Fuente and head out to his boat. There they meet Fuente (Frank Zappa) and the mystery woman, and Fuente tells a story about how Maroto absconded with $3 million of his "favourite" dollars, reveals he knows "Burnett and Cooper" are really Vice cops, and demands that Crockett give him his $3 million back. Crockett and Tubbs manage to shoot their way off the boat and take Fuente with them as a hostage. Since they have nothing to hold him on, they let Fuente go - by forcing him to swim back. Back at OCB, Crockett finds that Hodges is an IA mole, sent to investigate why Maroto suddenly wanted to see Crockett, and the messages from the Fuente organization. Crockett didn't know that Maroto was involved with Fuente when he busted him, and knew nothing about the money. It transpires that Cates is the DEA agent sent in to check on Crockett, and fed him to Fuente as part of a bogus IA investigation. Crockett is infuriated, to the point that he punches Cates, but Cates defends him to Castillo, as he has another plan for getting to Fuente. He proposes trading $3 million for 50 kees of pharmaceutical quality cocaine. Tubbs and Castillo feel the plan is too dangerous. Tubbs sends for all info on Fuente and Moroto, and also does a check on Cates: he has been with DEA for 18 years, mostly in the field, with two injuries and four busted marriages to show for it. Crockett now understands what kind of "Payback!" Maroto had in mind; he knew everyone would think Crockett had the money. Castillo relents and lets Crockett go after Fuente to clear his name. Crockett goes to see Reydolfo and Cates and proposes a deal: Fuente's $3 million in exchange for 100 pounds of Bolivian cocaine, with a promise of no backstabbing. Fuente's word must be given face to face, and the longer they wait, the more they lose, as Crockett wads up $100 bills and throws them on the ground. The plan is set -- Cates will be wearing a wire, with $3 million of DEA funds, and he and Crockett will go out to Fuente's boat to discuss the deal. Tubbs reviews the files on Fuente and Maroto and finds Cates was on Fuente's yacht when Maroto took off with the money, although Cates told them he knew nothing about the money until Internal Affairs called him in - it turns out Cates called IAD and volunteered in the investigation, meaning Cates knew where the money was and took it himself. Cates surreptitiously disconnects the wire, and he, Crockett and Rodolfo head for Fuente's yacht. When Reydolfo sends him below deck to get a beer, Crockett notices a duffel bag and opens it to find the $3 million. Cates shoots Reydolfo in the back, but Reydolfo falls over the throttle, throwing the boat into high gear. Crockett throws the open bag at Cates to disarm him and the money spills out as they fight. They struggle over the gun and Cates is shot, while most of the money is lost in the water. Cates admits setting up the meeting with Maroto and Crockett, but not with the suicide, and the rest was also his doing. Before he dies, he tells Crockett that Fuente will never stop looking for the money. Cast *Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett *Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs *Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese *Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek *John Diehl as Metro-Dade Detective Larry Zito *Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin *Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo Guest Stars *Dan Hedaya as Reuben Reydolfo *Graham Beckel as DEA Agent Kevin Cates *Roberto Duran as Jesus Maroto *Frank Zappa as Mario Fuente Co-Starring *Fred Herrick as Metro-Dade IAD Officer Earle Hodges *Margie Beeson as Woman Notes * Dan Hedaya appeared in the Season 1 episode "One Eyed Jack" as Ben Schroeder, an Internal Affairs officer. * This episode marks one of many times Crockett was investigated for wrongdoing; others include "One Eyed Jack", "Theresa", and "Child's Play". * Frank Zappa, known for his avant-garde musical stylings, played a fairly ruthless drug dealer in this episode, in stark comparison to his real life persona. * We see Crockett once again picking up a woman from a bar, but having to take a rain check due to the disarray of the St. Vitus. *Despite the fact Cates warns Crockett that Fuente still believes he has the money and will hunt him down, Fuente never returns in the series and the plot is never followed up. This is most likely because Frank Zappa retired from acting (except for voiceover jobs) due to his poor health. *Since there was no followup episode, the viewer is left to wonder how Crockett will ever be able to get out of an apparently hopeless scenario. For instance, the viewer is never shown how Crockett manages to survive an impending vendetta resulting from the missing 3 million dollars which went flying out of the blue duffle bag and into the ocean. Since Cates killed Reydolfo before he himself was shot, and Fuente still suspects Crockett stole the money, will he not be incensed to falsely suspect that Crockett probably murdered his right hand man? Lastly, how could Crockett ever use the name of Burnett again in any of his undercover work given the fact that Fuente's people (and possibly others) know his true identity? None of these questions were ever addressed throughout the remainder of the series. *Maroto's suicide in this episode is the fourth to occur in the second season, and the second in two consecutive episodes to happen right in front of Crockett (Judge Ferguson also shot himself in the head at the end of the previous episode, "The Fix"). *This is one of several episodes that does not end on a freeze frame. Goofs * What looks like a small mic can be seen in the folds of Crockett's jacket when he and Tubbs discuss Cates at the bar. * When Crockett and Cates are fighting on the boat, there is a shot of the money flying out of the bag; the money is obviously fake (it's made of plain paper and printed on only one side). Production Notes *Filmed: February 10, 1986 - February 21, 1986 *Production Code: 60048 *Production Order: 41 Filming Locations *Culver Prison, 14000 NW 41st Street (Prison where Crockett meets Moroto) *Frankie and Johnny's, 1492 S.E. 17th St. Causeway, Ft. Lauderdale (Bar scenes with Crockett/Tubbs/Cates/Reydolfo) *20 Harbor Point, Key Biscayne (Reydolfo's house) *Miamarina at Bayside, 401 Biscayne Bvd, Miami (St. Vitus Dance) Music *"Bass and Trouble" by Sly and Robbie (Crockett, Tubbs and Cates at bar)thumb|300px|right|Music video by StevenMighty *"Soul Kitchen" by X (Blaring on Crockett's boat) *"Dancin'" by Chris Isaak (Crockett and Tubbs discussing Cates at the bar) *"Three Sisters" by INXS (Crockett talks with Redolfo) Jan Hammer Music *"Payback" (Crockett waits for IAD, Fuente jumps into sea) *"Russian Story" (Crockett/Cates/Hodges/Castillo at OCB, Crockett/Castillo at OCB) *"The Search" (Crockett/Tubbs/Cates drive to see Fuente) *"Crockett's Return" (Crockett on boat, Rico and Castillo at OCB) Quotes *"You one tough cop. It takes a tough cop to bust me . . . Now we find out how tough you are!" -- Moroto to Crockett before turning the gun on himself '' *"You spend a couple of hours combing some guy's ''brains out of your hair, see what that does to you!" -- Crockett to Tubbs *"Fuente is like a jar that's been screwed on too tight, you work on it and work on it... Cates comes along, and makes the final twist!" -- Zito to Crockett and Tubbs *"No wonder I felt like I was being watched - I was being watched!!" -- Crockett Category:Miami Vice Season 2 Episodes